


You've Begun to Feel Like Home

by mccolfer



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-21
Updated: 2013-11-21
Packaged: 2018-01-02 05:45:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1053185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mccolfer/pseuds/mccolfer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A wannabe romcom where Liam takes in a seemingly homeless Louis, Zayn and Niall are a power couple, and Harry is just kind of haphazardly thrown in there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You've Begun to Feel Like Home

**Author's Note:**

> Ugh, I have had this typed up for MONTHS and I just don't know what to do with it. Part of me LOVES it and part of me HATES it. I hope part of everyone who reads it loves it and also no part hates it. It is written in second person because that is honestly my favorite way to write, but it can be confusing to read for some people. Thanks for reading this, uwu.
> 
> Also sorry I am so American and sorry for any errors. I swear I've read through this so many times and there are probably still errors.
> 
> [whispers] general disclaimer i do not know any member of one direction personally and this story is just based off of fictionalized versions of a character that i have interpreted from their public personas sorry

Your name is Louis Tomlinson. You’re pushing thirty and you’ve currently been living on your friend’s couch for two years. You’ve been single since your girlfriend of five years broke up with you abruptly on the day you were going to propose. She claims you were “too gay for her”. She then implied that she’d like for you to move out of “her” apartment, but said it would be fine if you needed a few days to find somewhere new.

Your excessive pride got the better of you and you ended up storming out with a few of your things to crash on Zayn and Niall's couch. Before you knew it, “just for the weekend” somehow turned into two years when you got fired from your job waiting tables after bitterly yelling at a happy couple. You spend your days watching TV and mooching off the money Zayn rakes in with his paintings and the bits and pieces Niall chips in from busking on the streets.

“ _God_ dammit Niall! You need to tell him to leave!”

“We can’t just kick him out! And why have I got to do everything around here?!”

When you start hearing the shouts, you turn over to face the back of the couch and pull your blanket up over your shoulder. You frequently hear your friends arguing and quickly turning to make up sex because they can’t banish the other to the couch. You know that they think you can’t hear when they fight about you. It’s like having parents on the brink of divorce. Except you know Zayn and Niall would never break up and the only reason they are fighting is actually you.

But you try not to think about that.

You met Harry one night when Niall and Zayn pulled you out to a local bar. Your two friends end up getting shitfaced while you turn down everybody in sight. But you can’t help but melt a little at the curly haired boy who keeps buying you bright fruity drinks. You bring him back home and wake up to the smell of bacon and the sound of Zayn talking.

“He’s brought someone home, Niall.” He’s saying, “They’ve had sex on our couch.”

“Like it’s even ours anymore,” Niall scoffs.

“Niall, something has got to be done.”

“Look, we promised each other that we’d let him get himself together and not judge him in the process.”

“Yeah, I agreed to that when I thought it would take a month tops,” Zayn is gesturing wildly, “It’s been _two years_!”

“Just give him a little more time,”

Their voices begin to soften and you can tell they’re walking away. Moments later you’re woken up by Harry who has made you bacon. He quickly leaves, claiming his number is in your phone. You find his contact and change “Harry (:” to “Curly Haired Booty Call”. You don’t call him again. The happiness you felt at the thought of the potential boyfriend in Harry vanished and was replaced with the sour memory of being a burden for your friends.

A week goes by and you forget to eat for a while. You also forget to bathe. Also to change your clothes. Your glasses sit on your face, smears of grease making it almost impossible to see out of them. Your hair sits flat against your forehead and your old band t-shirt is losing its coolness because you’ll probably never be able to wash out the smell of pure body odor out of it.

Zayn and Niall are fighting over you again. This time Niall is less quick to take your side. They quiet down faster than ever before and it ends with Niall saying he’ll talk to you in the morning. You don’t sleep.

At around 8 you quit trying to sleep and you get up to make a big pancake breakfast for everyone, surprising Niall when he comes out of his bedroom.

“You’re awake early,”

“Niall, if I’m ever a bother, I can leave.”

Niall frowns, “You’re not a bother.” Then he hesitates, taking a bite out of a pancake and talking with his mouth full, “But maybe you should try getting your life back on track? Maybe you should try therapy.”

You gasp as are highly offended by that statement. You’re not some _insane_ person, you don’t need _therapy_.

Niall realizes your discomfort and immediately starts apologizing, but the damage is done.

“Fine! If I’m just some _crazy_ burden living on your couch, then I’m sure you won’t miss me!”

You storm out of the house but become quickly aware that you’re only in a short sleeve shirt, sweatpants, and socks and it’s winter. Also you look disgusting. But your ever present pride makes an appearance and you find yourself wondering off somewhere instead of back into the warmth of the house you’ve called home for the past two years.

You are soon shivering profusely and can barely see straight as you trudge through the unpaved snow on a less traveled by sidewalk. You can only see the faint outlines of car headlights ahead as your vision fades and you fall into the snow.

You wake up surrounded by warmth and seeing only white. You suspect that you’re dead and don’t quite mind the suspicion. But then you hear "Oh good, you're awake," and the smell of pizza and chicken invades your nostrils, causing you to sit up and view your surroundings.

You are in an unfamiliar king sized bed in an unfamiliar room. The room walls are painted a pleasant blue color while the ceiling is white, explaining the might-be-dead theory from before. The lack of pain in your back suggests that the bed is comfortable. You can feel that the tartan sheets and matching pillow cases are soft and worn with use, but they smell quite pleasant. There are several blankets on top of you: one leopard-print Snuggie, two home-knitted multicolored afghans, and one denim comforter.

You take in the room. The orange curtains blocking the sunlight from entering the room from the one window and also clashing horribly with the lovely blue walls. The bookshelf that is completely full and you suspect, for some reason, it is also organized by author and title. The large boom box next to a laptop and a collection of CDs that says "I think pirating is bad and I refuse to listen to music unless I buy it rightfully." The slightly cracked closet door next to a dresser that has a framed degree above it and a bunch of framed photos next to a boxed toy that has probably never been opened on it. And finally, the open door where stands a tall man in a cozy sweater holding two pizza boxes and starting at you expectantly.

You figure you've took this long to respond, you might as well take longer. You look the man over. The soft looking hair on his head is styled up and shorn at the sides. His lips are plump and inviting, a dusting of scruff surrounds them. Just beyond that you spot a birthmark/possible hickey on his Adam's apple. You plan to investigate it. He fills out his sweater nicely, you detect strong arms and tight abs. His hands are big and currently wrapped around pizza boxes, but you want them wrapped around your- "Are you okay?"

His voice is filled with concern and it shows on his face. Lips pulled down into a frown and bushy eyebrows pushed up and in, causing three wrinkles to appear across his forehead. You blush.

“I’m fine.” You insist, “Where am I?”

The man sets down the pizzas on the bed and sits down next to them. He puts a hand on your foot then quickly takes it off, looking at you with his dark eyes filled with panic. You remain stoic.

“Oh, I, um,” He chuckled nervously, “I saw you pass out on the sidewalk on my way home from work. I took you back to my place and tucked you into bed. You’ve been asleep for pretty much the whole day.”

You look around for something to tell you more information, such as what time or day it is. The analog clock hanging above the door would probably help but you can’t see that far ahead of you without your glasses, which are not resting upon your nose as they should be.

The man catches you squinting and turns around to follow your line of vision.

“It’s ten o’clock, don’t worry, it’s Sunday.”

You frown, you’ve been away for more than a day. Zayn and Niall must be worried. A small thrill tickles at your spine at the thought of them worrying about you.

“Um, when I was carrying you here you seemed a bit thin, perhaps you ought to eat something?” The man says quietly, pushing the pizza boxes towards you slightly.

You suddenly realize you haven’t eaten in about nine days and you are ravenous. Five minutes later, you’ve eaten an entire chicken covered pizza and you’re wondering how this man knew it was your favorite. You are also wondering who this man is. You might be able to see his name on the degree on the dresser had you had your glasses on.

“Where are my glasses?”

“Oh! Sorry,” The man walks over to his desk and picks up the thin frames and hands them to you, “They were quite dirty so I cleaned them off. Also the right arm was a bit loose so I tightened the screw.”

You stare incredulously down at the glasses, then at the man. The wiggly right arm had been bothering you for a month and you had been in no mood to fix it. You feel weird.

“Thanks,” You say as you put them on. The man is much more attractive and you can now count his numerous eyelashes if you stayed there for long enough. “Who are you?”

The man looked confused for a moment before shaking his head and momentarily putting his head down in his hands, “Oh, of course, I haven’t even told you my name yet. I’m Liam,”

He sticks out his hand and you weren’t even aware that people still shook hands after meeting anymore. Maybe it’s just him. You refuse to leave him hanging and wrestle to get your arm out of the Snuggie sleeve to shaking back. His hand seems even bigger when it’s holding yours. You’ve always had quite small hands though.

“Louis,” You stare into his eyes for a few minutes, neither of you letting go of the others’ hand. But soon enough he lets out a panicked laugh and lets go of your hand. You use the hand to push back the hair that is disgusting and practically plastered to your forehead with grease and sweat.

“Do I know you?” You ask. There must be _some_ reason why this guy helped you. As far as you know, you’ve never met him before.

Liam looks down at his feet then back up at you, “Uh, no,”

You frown, “Why did you help me?”

Liam frowns back, “Why wouldn’t I?”

“You don’t even know me! You had no reason to!”

“The fact that you were a helpless, homeless man practically freezing to death on an empty sidewalk wasn’t enough?!”

You fall silent. Liam thinks you’re homeless. This man has taken a “homeless” person into his house and let them sleep on his bed, then bought them pizza. You cannot believe the situation you are in.

You voice your disbelief, “Are you for real?”

Liam is confused, “Yes?”

There is a moment of silence. Liam awkwardly picks up a slice of pizza and begins eating it, obviously trying to ignore the sudden bout of silence. You assess the situation.

Perhaps you should take advantage of your position. Liam is surely asking for it, being all nice to random strangers. He’s going to get himself killed. The right thing to do is to stay at Liam’s house, take up space. That way Liam won’t bring in more people, because he’s already got one responsibility. While you’re at it, you can teach Liam not to bring strangers into his house, no matter how pathetic they seem.

Liam has finished his slice and seems to be debating eating another one because everything is still awkward and quiet. You throw him a bone and speak up.

“Can I use your shower?”

The poor boy practically lights up at the thought of helping you. This could be good. Niall and Zayn will definitely appreciate having you out of their collective, admittedly nice, hair.

“Yes, of course,” Liam gets up and moves to the door, then waits there for you to get up and follow him. You do so, kicking off the many blankets. Upon getting up the cool air alerts you that your back is practically drenched with sweat. Liam leads you out of the room and down a small hallway. There are two doors adjacent to each other and past them you can see a living room/kitchen. The house is small, made for one person, maybe two.

“Here’s the bathroom,” Liam allows you to enter, then follows you in. He instructs you on how to use the shower, then grabs you a towel out of a small closet across from the shower. “I’ll bring you some of my clothes. I think they might fit.”

He gives you a warm grin then leaves you to your showering. Once you’ve finally got the temperature right there’s a hesitant knock on the door, then the door opens without your permission.

“I’m just going to set the clothes next to the towel, yeah?” Liam says and again doesn’t wait for a response before putting the clothes down and leaving.

You think to yourself while washing yourself with Liam’s all Axe related shower products. Do you really want to take advantage of this nice guy? Do you want to risk possibly getting with Liam to mooch off him for a while? Do you want to see if mooching off Liam for a while might help you get with him?

Then you think about Niall and Zayn. How ecstatic they must be to finally have you out of their house. They probably already burned the couch and bought a new one. You sneer to yourself.

After a good fifteen minutes after finishing your washing, the water begins to run cold. You decide it’s time to get out. The towel is soft and fluffy and the sweatpants and hoodie Liam has left for you smell really nice. They’re too big for you of course. The hoodie stretched out in the shoulders, ending just too low over your ass, the end of the sleeves brushing your knuckles. The sweatpants end up tucked under your heels when you walk. Everything is warm and soft and nice smelling. You could get used to this.

When you leave the bathroom Liam is sitting on a small couch in the living room, watching an old school tube TV that can’t even get HD and still has a VCR attachment. You find the whole situation kind of endearing.

Liam smiles brightly at you the moment he sees you. You get the weird feeling again. You’re not sure you like it.

“Where do you keep your hair products?” You wonder. You figure if you’re going to try to get with Liam, you’re going to need to look slightly less homeless, “I haven’t really been able to rock the floppy old school Bieber hair for a while. Not without a hat or something at least.”

“Oh, of course,” Liam stands up and leads you back to the bathroom. He opens the cabinet under the sink and sticks his arm out, presenting it to you, “I do my best to do things with this old mess,” Liam chuckles as he gestures towards his head, “Sometimes it’s hard with my work,”

As he rambles you rummage through the products before finding a half empty hairspray bottle that should work.

“That reminds me, I have to go to work tomorrow until 9, will you be alright on your own?”

“9 PM?”

Liam nods.

He is actually going to leave a presumably homeless stranger alone in his house for an entire day. He should be thankful you’re not actually homeless and not a huge jerk.

“I’m sure I’ll find something to do.”

“Great!” He smiles again and you wonder if he’s ever sad sometimes, “Well, I’ll leave you to your hair.”

After a few minutes and a lot of hairspray, you deem your hair acceptable. It feels good to do your hair again, it’s been so long since you felt the need to. You just wish you had your contacts. The hair doesn’t really work with the glasses. But alas, your need to see oveshines your need to look cool. You keep your glasses on.

You spend a bit of time staring at your reflection before deciding you definitely need to shave. Your month’s work of patchy scruff is starting to look weird. You look around the bathroom and quickly find the shaving cream on the corner of the sink. You open the mirror cabinet and find the razor hiding in there. You make quick work of your shaving and try not to make a complete mess.

When you’re finally done, you exit the bathroom once more and Liam is back on the couch.

“You clean up nice,” He compliments, grinning at you as you walk over and sit on the other side of the couch.

You hesitantly smile back, “I hope you don’t mind that I took advantage of your razor,” You rub your smooth chin, “The facial hair was getting to the point where it did not work with my hair.”

Liam laughs likes you’ve just told the funniest joke in the world and you almost start laughing awkwardly with him just to even out the situation. After he's calmed down you both stare blankly at the show on the TV. You do not really take in what is going on in front of you.

“Do you want to watch a movie or something?” Liam interrupts your thoughts.

You shrug, whatever Liam was watching is airing a commercial right now, so you’ve got nothing to compare your options to. Also you don’t know what’s on TV these days. You’ve spent so long watching old reruns of old shows. You suddenly feel really embarrassed by your TV habits and quickly agree to the movie.

Liam walks over to a cardboard box next to the TV. He opens it and starts pulling out chunky boxes that clearly contain VHS tapes. You know _you’re_ not caught up with the times, but Liam is clearly even further back than you are.

“Are those, like, from your childhood?” You try to joke but it mostly comes out bitchy. Liam looks hurt.

“Yes,”

Liam is actually pouting at you, while he’s holding up a video tape of Toy Story. He’s probably the most adorable person you’ve ever come across.

“Let’s just watch that,” You point at the box in his hand and his face lights up again. You decide you’ll do whatever to make him look like that at all times.

“I love Toy Story!” He excitedly opens the box and pulls out the tape with care, placing it in the slot to the TV’s VCR. The screen goes blue and a menu comes up. You spot the remote still on the couch and throw it to him, who catches it even though you didn’t warn him.

You frown. He smiles.

Liam presses a few buttons and the menu screen for Toy Story soon comes up. He gets up and hands you the remote, “Just wait a few minutes while I make some popcorn.”

Three minutes later Liam is bringing over a bowl of slightly burnt popcorn. You almost want to cry because you love when it’s slightly burnt and Niall always got mad at you because it made the house smell.

You smile at Liam and he smiles back, telling you to press play.

As you watch the movie you’re continually distracted by Liam, who laughs at all the right times and sometimes the wrong times and is mouthing along to some of the words. When Buzz attempts to fly you see Liam’s arm move as if he’s trying to stop him, then he sniffs loudly when Buzz’s arm falls off.

The movie ends and you suggest they watch the sequel.

“Well, nothing can beat the original, but I suppose it’s not a bad idea.”

It takes Liam a few minutes of searching the box to find Toy Story 2. You catch sight of a few more Disney movies and you wonder if he’s got anything else.

“So, do you only watch movies from the VHS era?”

Liam laughs, “No, silly, I’ve got a few DVDs I watch on my computer. Toy Story 3 didn’t come out on tape anyway, so I had to accommodate.”

You suddenly start feeling really bad for taking advantage of Liam. Then you remember that if you leave Liam might go bringing in an actual homeless asshole. You can’t let that happen. You’re protecting him, not hurting him.

He cheers triumphantly when he finds the tape and puts it in.

You find yourself getting into the movie, it’s been a long time since you saw it. Honestly, when it came out, you were eight and just a little too cool for Disney movies. Suddenly Jessie is staring sadly out a window and you’re watching as her owner ditches her in a charity box and you’re crying because you’re thinking about your stupid ex-girlfriend who had the stupidest reasoning for your break up and you’re relating your life with a toy, a fictional toy at that. You feel pathetic and stupid and you’re trying to stop crying but you _can’t_ it won’t stop happening.

The sound of the movie stops and you feel a warm hand on your back. You lean into the touch and Liam pulls you close, the bowl that previously contained popcorn now squished between you as you soak Liam’s shirt shoulder with tears.

“I’m sorry,” You apologize the second you get ahold of yourself.

Liam smiles softly, “Hey, it’s cool. We all get down sometimes, it’s good to cry about things when you need to.”

You rest your head on Liam’s shoulder again because it’s nice, even with the bowl digging into your thigh.

“Maybe we ought to call it a night?” Liam suggests.

You nod, “All that crying made me tired.”

“You can have my bed,”

“No, no, I can’t do that.”

“I insist,” Liam says, “Besides, you, um, it’s probably been a while since you, yeah, you take my bed. I’ll take the couch.”

He doesn’t want to offend you by mentioning your “homelessness”. You just don’t know how to feel about Liam. You mostly feel weird.

You feel even weirder when he takes a pillow and an afghan from his bed and waves goodbye before setting up camp on his couch. You lie in his bed for a good hour before finally getting up. You’re too antsy to sleep. You sneak out and find that Liam is snoring softly while the menu for Toy Story 2 plays over and over again on the TV.

You sigh and walk back to the room. The dresser catches your attention. The toy you spotted before is a Woody doll. The package is unopened and you assume Liam spent a lot of money on it.

You examine the degree, it’s made out to Liam Payne and for psychology. Is Liam actually a therapist? Did Niall actually suggest you try therapy, causing you to run out in the snow, only to be taken in by the cutest therapist in the world? Is this something that happened to you? You decide to ignore the degree and check out the framed photos littering the dresser.

There are five. One is a family portrait, you assume, rather recent. Liam is wearing a tacky Christmas sweater and smiling brightly in between two blonde women, flanking the women are two older people. If this is a family portrait you guess Liam’s parents are still together and he has two, probably older, sisters. Your heart aches for your sisters. Your family’s life was never the greatest, which is why you haven’t let them know of what a failure you’ve been these past few years. As far as they know you’re still waiting tables, trying to get a degree in something, and dating that bitch. The other pictures on the dresser are filled with the same people from the first picture. Your stomach churns, Liam’s family is obviously fantastic and close and you haven’t spoken to anyone in yours in years. You feel weird and kind of guilty.

You decide it’s definitely time to stop looking at Liam’s adorable family and start trying to sleep again.

After an hour of twisting and turning you finally start drifting off. When you wake up it’s 10 and Liam’s gone. You sit in bed for a while, staring off into space. Maybe this was all a bad idea. You should just go back to Zayn and Niall.

You decide to do that. Right after you get something to eat.

Liam’s refrigerator is filled with fruits and vegetables. Of course he’s healthy, because Liam’s perfect. He has a successful, steady job and a good relationship with his family and a TV that he probably brought from his childhood home when he moved out even though he can afford MacBook computers.

You slam the door shut and rummage through the cabinets full of protein powder and more healthy shit before finding a half full bag of chips. You plant yourself on the couch and turn on the TV, finding some cartoons to watch before you leave.

Before you know it, you’re watching an entire season rerun of Big Brother and yelling at the TV as your favorite gets voted off and Liam is walking in.

“Liam, can you believe this nonsense?!”

“Ugh, I hated her,” Liam says as he removes his scarf, sending a sneer towards the TV where your favorite is stoically accepting her fate and moving to go meet the host.

“How very dare you!”

“All she did was stab everyone in the back seconds after making alliances with them!”

“She was just playing the game, that’s the way it works!”

Liam chuckles and drops the subject, “So, you’re enjoying yourself then?”

You’re suddenly pulled back into reality, actual reality, not scripted. Because your life is not scripted and recorded. You have to make your own decisions.

“Right,” You say, hesitating, “I was thinking. Maybe I should…go.”

Liam frowns, “Why would you do that?”

“Well, you’ve been so nice. I can’t take advantage of you forever.”

“I don’t mind,” Liam smiles, hanging up his coat and setting his shoes aside as he walks over to sit on the arm of the couch, “I’ve always wanted a roommate.”

“But, it’s not like I can pay to live with you,”

“I don’t need you to! I make more money than I know what to do with,” He chuckles then frowns, “Sorry, I shouldn’t be rubbing that in your face. Look, Louis, you need a place to live and I need company.”

“I’ll feel weird living in your house, eating your food, wearing your clothes, and not helping pay for rent or anything.”

“So, you stay here and look for a job so you eventually can help pay for things,” Liam grins like he’s just created the best plan in existence. Why is he so committed to keeping you here?

You sigh, maybe it’s time to bust out the truth, “Look, Liam-”

“No, you look.” Liam says, his voice turning serious, “I’m offering you a warm house and free food, and I’m asking for nothing in return. Please, let me take care of you.”

You stare down at your lap for a moment, then up at Liam, “Where would I sleep?”

Liam’s grin is possibly going to rip his whole face open, “I’ve got another bedroom that’s been empty for ages.”

An hour later you’re sitting on the couch watching another Disney VHS while Liam fusses around in the small kitchen making dinner. He comes out halfway through the movie and hands you a bowl full of spaghetti along with the most earnest grin you’ve ever seen on a grown man.

Liam spends a few minutes pushing around his noodles before quietly speaking up, “Um, how long have you been…uh, h-homeless?”

He cringes the second the word comes out of his mouth, as if you’re going to lash out or have some sort of panic attack. You sigh, you’re really not looking forward to lying to Liam. But are you really lying? You’re technically not homeless, you live with Zayn and Niall. But is that really having a home?

It totally is but if you have to lie to Liam you should lie to yourself too.

“About two years,”

Liam raises his eyebrows in shock, “Oh, you don’t look like it.”

You shrug, “Um,” He starts just as hesitant as before, “How did it happen? If you don’t mind…”

“Well, my bitch of a girlfriend dumped me and kicked me out of our apartment. I had a little too much pride for my own good and refused to ask anybody for help. Then suddenly I’m getting fired from my job and, well, yeah,”

So maybe you edited the story a little but what Liam doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Right now at least.

Liam looks at you with big sympathy filled eyes and maybe it feels pretty good to get some of that sympathy. After two years of mooching Niall and Zayn stopped feeling as sorry as they did when you first showed up on their doorstep.

It’s insisted that you take Liam’s bed again until he gets a bed for the spare room. He is stubborn and absolutely refuses to take any answer besides “yes I’ll take your bed Liam”. You resist the urge to snoop through Liam’s things. You’ve already indirectly hurt him enough by lying to him.

You don’t think you’ve ever been so nice in your life. If this were any other person thinking you were homeless and giving you food and letting you sleep in their bed, you would be having a ball. But there’s something about Liam that just makes you feel _awful_ about what you’re doing.

The next morning you are rudely awakened by light streaming in through the window. The window that was meant to always be covered by curtains. Your eyes crack open and you spot the curtain opener.

Of course, it's Liam, "Rise and shine!"

You groan, "What time is it?"

"Time for you," Liam grins and reaches over to pull the blanket off you, "To get up."

He's unsuccessful in getting the blankets off you as you have wrapped yourself up entirely in them. He mock glares at you.

"Come on, we're going to get you some clothes today!"

You whine as you untangle yourself from your blanket cocoon, "Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I have off on Tuesdays!"

Liam is way too excited for...whatever time it is. You refuse to find it endearing.

"Finally got tired of me stealing all your clothes?" You joke as you get up and stretch. Maybe you let your (Liam's) shirt ride up a little to show off a bit of skin. Maybe you catch Liam taking in the view. And just maybe you smirk a little at the thought.

"No, not at all," Liam is flustered now, either from the accusation or your light tease, you can't tell, "It's just, my clothes are a little too big for you, I thought you'd want something to fit."

"So, you're taking me on a shopping spree? Where you'll buy anything I want?"

Liam nods, smiling sweetly.

"I don't need you to spoil me, Liam."

There's a hint of distaste in your mouth. Mostly for yourself. You really shouldn't be using Liam like this.

"I'll set up a budget if it really bothers you," Liam offers.

You hesitate. You'd rather Liam just didn't buy you anything.

"Louis, if you don't let me do this for you, I'm taking the shirt and pants you had on when I found you and buying stuff myself. Now you can come with me or be forced to endure my awful fashion sense."

The ultimatum traps you, "Your fashion sense isn't _awful_ ,"

Liam grins, he knows he's won when you digress from the main topic to comment on something else mentioned.

An hour later you're dressed in a cozy blue jumper that is, in fact, too big for you, and a pair of pants that need to be rolled up at the bottom. You curse your height, or lack thereof. Liam has also loaned you an old pair of shoes he had, but they’re a little too big too. You refuse to think anything along the lines of ‘you know what they say about men with big feet’.

You feel slightly uncomfortable in clothes that don't have sweat in the front of their name. But you're glad you agreed to go with Liam. He seems to like pants that are baggy and you prefer the snug feel of tight pants. Also you're not sure what's in store for you when the weather heats up. All you know is that Liam has a large collection of sweaters and one scarf, which he's trying to offer to you.

"Liam, I'm not going to take your scarf,"

"Louis," He swings the scarf over your head and wraps it around your neck, pulling you closer to him, "You're going to wear my scarf."

You can feel his warm minty breath puff out against your lips. You wait for him to close the space between your respective mouths.

But he's just tightening the scarf around you and patting your bicep with a smile. He turns around and opens the door.

For the first time you take in where this apartment is. Right outside the house there's a sidewalk and a busy street. There's a line if identical trees up and down the sidewalk, all in front of an apartment that probably has the same layout of Liam's. Across the street is a similar set up. Behind Liam's tree is a relatively new looking red car. It's an average car, but then again, it belongs to an average guy.

You and Liam get into the car and it takes a few minutes for the traffic to let up enough for you to get out of the parking spot.

Liam starts driving, singing softly to the music on the radio, and you start recognizing where you are.

"This place is great," Liam speaks up, "Sometimes a little blond Irishman comes out to play a guitar and sing,"

Liam laughs and a rush of fear fills you. This is one of the areas where Niall busks. Liam knows Niall.

"Oh look!" Liam points to the small crowd of people gathered around, "I think he's out there!"

You're sure your face has turned pale white with fear. The crowd opens and you lay your eyes on your friend. Liam is still talking excitedly.

"There he is! Isn't he just adorable? Wanna go watch him?"

"No!" You respond too quickly, Liam frowns, "I, I know him. I, uh, went to school with him. We didn't get on well,"

You look down at your (Liam’s) shoes, hoping Liam buys the story. It's not exactly a lie, you went to school with Niall and you hated him at first because he was taking up all of Zayn's time.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Let's just go to the store, yes?"

You smile weakly back at Liam, who drives on. You can't resist sneaking a glance at Niall, who doesn't seem as cheerful as usual.

It's probably something to do with Zayn. Niall is definitely relived to have you out of his overly bleached hair.

After the first few stores you found yourself warming up to the thought of shopping. You honestly love it, but the thought of Liam buying everything put a twinge of shame on the whole situation. You soon forget about it up until you get to the register and Liam pulls out a credit card nonchalantly. You then promise yourself that you won’t get as much stuff in the next store, but soon forget the moment you’re in front of all the clothes. Liam just smiles and reassures you and you wish he would scold you and reinforce the budget.

You guess karma’s a bitch when you walk into what you deemed as “the last store of the day” and spot a certain curly haired man folding sweaters on display. You let out a groan that wasn’t supposed to be as loud as it was but it catches Liam’s and Harry’s attention.

Harry grins and waves at you. You worry that he’s going to come over and talk to you.

“Do you know him?” Liam’s voice is suddenly in your ear and you remember the whole predicament you’re in. Here you are, pretending to be homeless while you make eye contact with the guy you brought home a few days ago.

"Hey, maybe we should call it a day," You abruptly suggest to Liam, "I'm getting pretty tired."

Liam is skeptical, glancing at Harry who is frowning at you, bemused, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, let's get home,"

He turns around to grin really wide at you, "Home?"

"Don't get all domestic on me without at last buying me dinner first, Payne."

Liam scoffs, "I've been making you dinner for the past two days, it's got to be your turn by now."

Once you've successfully distracted Liam, you glance back at the store and can't seem to spot Harry anywhere. Crisis averted.

Once you and Liam are back in his car, he starts planning, "So, I was thinking tomorrow we'll get you a bed when I get home from work."

"Only if you let me sleep on the couch instead of your bed tonight."

"Don't be ridiculous," Liam waves his hand flippantly, "You were homeless for years, you deserve a bed."

You grimace, Liam always knows how to inadvertently make you feel guilty for what you're doing.

"Come on, I'm going to be laying around all day while you're at work, you need the bed more than I do."

"Look I'm sleeping on the couch tonight," Liam's voice gets strict like it did this morning about his scarf, you finding vaguely arousing, "You can join me of you like, but there might not be room for both of us."

"How about we both sleep in the bed?"

"Don't get all domestic on me without at last buying me dinner first..." Liam hesitates with his mocking, "I'm letting you live in my house and I don't even know your last name," Liam shakes his head, presumably at himself.

"Tomlinson," You offer, because having a little honestly is the least you could do for him. Also you’ve googled yourself before and the results had nothing to do with you at all, so there’s no worry of Liam finding you out.

You’re soon pulling up to Liam’s apartment and he flawlessly parallel parks his car right in front of the tree. Once you get inside Liam starts asking what you want for dinner.

“Oh no,” You say, putting Liam’s scarf on one of the coat hooks attached to a shelf behind Liam’s door. “It’s my turn, remember?”

“Are you sure?”

“Are you doubting me, Payne?”

Liam’s dubious look melts into a grin, “Never, Tommo,” He winks at you before sitting down on his couch and turning on his TV. You’re left standing by the front door in shock because somehow Liam just called you by your childhood nickname.

You shake your head, the nickname was obvious. If 14 year old Niall and Zayn could come up with it, then grown adult Liam definitely could. You wander into the kitchen, and maybe you shake your hips more than necessary when you walk in front of the TV. Upon entering the kitchen you realize you don’t know how to make anything.

After a mild freak out you start searching through the cabinets. You spy a box of mac and cheese that should have very easy and specific instructions to follow and instantly reach for it. But alas, it’s on the top shelf, and you are so short. You push yourself up onto your toes, but still fail to reach it. You attempt the jump and grab technique but only manage to push the box further back into the cabinet.

“Are you okay, Louis?”

You look over and there’s Liam, standing in the entrance of the kitchen. You wonder how long he’s been there.

“I, uh, can’t…reach…” You awkwardly explain, gesturing towards the top shelf of the cabinet.

Liam chuckles, “Why didn’t you just call me?” He walks over and easily grabs the box and holds it out to you with a grin.

“I could have gotten it myself!” You insist, snatching the box from Liam, who just laughs again. “Get out of my kitchen!”

Liam puts his hands up in surrender and backs out of the kitchen, almost running into his trash can.

“Hey, what do you want to watch during dinner?” Liam calls out from the couch when Louis is filling up a pot with water.

You sigh, “I don’t know, just put on another Disney one,” You stare fiercely at the water, willing it to start boiling, “Maybe soon we’ll have watched Disney’s entire filmography and we can start on something else,”

You hear Liam laugh and you wonder if he thinks everyone is hilarious or just you. The water is obviously not going to start boiling anytime soon, so you walk out of the kitchen and find Liam on the floor digging through his cardboard box full of VHS tapes.

“Lion King?” Liam asks, pulling out the tape as an example. You shrug and Liam nods and ejects Toy Story 2. You return to your pot which is now making small bubbles.

“Do you have a colander?”

“Yeah, it’s on the top shelf of the cabinet next to the fridge,”

You glare at the offending cabinet, “Why do you keep everything so out of reach?!”

“Because I’m not short,” Liam’s voice is suddenly right behind you and not in the living room, the sudden closeness startles you and you jump to a pretty impressive height, spinning around to Liam with your hands up as if you were going to chop whoever dared to scare you. Liam snorts and grabs your wrists, “I come in peace,”

“Just shut up and give me your colander,”

As Liam giggles and opens the cabinet to grab the object, you glance over to find your water is boiling. You grab your box full of macaroni and pour it into the pot. Liam offers the colander to you, but you point to the sink, “Also, I need something to stir this with,”

Liam points to a drawer next to the stove and you pull it open to find silverware organized by a plastic holder and a couple large wooden spoons. You grab a spoon and stir your pot, looking over at the clock to time your cooking correctly.

“Is that all you’re going to make?” The kitchen is small and Louis can feel Liam just over his shoulder. The whole thing feels really domestic and Louis just feels weird.

“Do you need anything else?” You’ve found yourself able to live on a very small amount of food within the week. Maybe your appetite has shrunk, or maybe Liam is like Niall.

You turn to look at Liam and you notice that his eyes are very soft and fond looking as he makes eye contact with you, “No, I was just wondering.”

You look at each other for a moment before sharing a grin and turning away. You moving to stir your pot again while Liam goes out to start The Lion King.

A few minutes later you walk out to the living room holding two bowls full of mac and cheese. Liam grins sweetly and thanks you as he takes his bowl. You look at the TV as you sit down, you see a lion cub standing on a cliff edge and you know what is happening next. This part always made your sister cry. You remember fondly comforting her while your other sisters made fun of her. You’re so lost in your memory you barely notice Liam sniffling next to you.

You almost want to roll your eyes because Liam is so lame, but his plump lower lip is sticking out and his bushy eyebrows are scrunched in towards each other and he’s bringing a big hand to swipe under his eye, “I’m sorry, this always makes me cry,”

You feel your face soften and you set your bowl down on your lap so your hands are free to wrap Liam into a hug. He hugs back and maybe you sit like that for a few minutes. Also you might maybe just stay close to Liam when you break the hug. And maybe halfway through the movie he swings an arm around your shoulders and maybe you wedge your shoulder into his armpit.

By the time the movie ends you are half asleep and Liam might be entirely asleep. You poke his cheek and he jumps up and looks around like a puppy.

You cover your mouth as a giggle sneaks out, “Come on, it’s bed time,”

“I’m sleeping out here,” Liam mumbles, settling back into the couch, “You take my bed,”

“Liam Payne, I am _not_ sleeping in that bed another night.” You respond defiantly, “So make room for me on the couch,”

Liam sighs, “Okay, if we’re going to be sleeping together we might as well do it in a comfy bed,” His cheeks suddenly tint red and he looks at his feet then back at you, “I-I meant, I didn’t mean – sleep together as in, actually the act of sleeping no-not, you know,”

You slap Liam on the back, “Of course not, we’ve only known each other for three days, who do you think I am?”

Liam looks like he's going to get flustered again but then he realizes you’re joking and grins back at you. Neither of you move for a few minutes, but the sound of menu screen on the TV restarting shocks both of you. Liam stands up and grabs your empty bowls, taking them into the kitchen and putting them in the sink. You walk to Liam’s bedroom and sit the bed, shortly after Liam walks in, he grins widely when he sees you. He’s just seen you a minute ago, jeez.

“Are you okay?” You ask.

Liam blushes, “Sorry, it’s just,” He points at the bed, “I always sleep on the right side and every other person I’ve had in my bed wanted the right side too.” Liam quickly catches himself and starts rambling nervously again, “Not that, I have a lot of people in my bed, like, frequently, you’re the first one in a while honestly,”

You grin stupidly back because Liam is cute and easily flustered and you understand his pain because you prefer the left side and so does Zayn. You’ve known Zayn forever, often spent sleepovers pillow fighting over who got the left side of the bed they had to share because each of you had small rooms.

You suddenly realize how much you miss Zayn, and Niall too. You were accustomed to seeing them every day and also seeing them naked sometimes because damn those two were insatiable.

“Do you want to change?” Liam is rooting through his drawers, presumably looking for pajamas. Usually you don’t mind sleeping in your street clothes but you kind of want to wear Liam’s clothes again, so you nod.

Liam leaves to go change in the bathroom and you pull on a shirt with a peace sign on it and a pair of sweatpants. You’re sitting on the bed again when you remember that you’ve just gone out and got a bunch of clothes that are sitting in their bags in the empty spare bedroom. But Liam’s clothes are soft and worn and smell nice, so you figure it won’t hurt to share.

A few minutes later, Liam returns to the bedroom in plaid pajama pants and a really tight shirt. He gets into bed hesitantly, which is weird because it’s his bed. You pull off your glasses and set them on the nightstand beside you, then turn to Liam. He seems to be trying to stay as far away from you as possible but you can still smell the mint on his breath. You don’t think you’ve ever actually brushed your teeth before bed.

You wonder briefly if Liam is being distant because he’s uncomfortable or because he’s worried about making you uncomfortable. The question haunts you as you raise your hand to possibly touch Liam and tell him it’s okay. You lower your hand then raise it again, then lower it again. Eventually your hand is almost touching Liam, but a soft snore makes you tug it back in shock. Liam’s already fallen asleep while you were freaking out. You shake your head and pull the blanket up over your shoulders and snuggle into your pillow. It’s starting to smell less like Liam and more like what your pillows always smell like, you’re not sure if you like that.

Obviously you fall asleep at some point, but you are not able to tell anybody when. You can tell anybody, however, how you wake up the next morning. You can feel Liam slowly move his leg from where it has become trapped between yours through the night. He seems to be multitasking and gently prying your arms from around him. You always had the tendency to octopus around people when you slept with them, she always hated it.

Suddenly everything is tarnished by the thought of your ex and you move, signaling Liam that he’s failed at being gentle and woke you up.

“I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go to work,”

You groan in response and pull off your limbs away from Liam, rolling over while you’re at it. You feel the bed tip as Liam gets up and you vaguely hear the shower start. You close your eyes but are unable to get back to sleep. Eventually, defeat is admitted as you sit up in the bed and stretch your arms over your head. You run your fingers through your messy locks in a futile attempt to tame them without showering.

You decide it seems like a good time to find out if Liam prefers coffee or tea. You pick up your glasses as you get out of bed and walk towards the kitchen.

You almost cry when you find it’s tea. Can Liam get any more perfect? You don’t want to find out. You fill up the kettle you find and put it on the stove, then wander over to the couch while you wait. Down the hall you hear the shower shut off. Liam exits the bathroom with only a towel around his waist and spots you in the living room.

“What time is it?”

You glance into the kitchen and the microwave claims it’s 7:28, you relay the information back to Liam.

“Oh, I’m late!” You’re reminded of the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland as Liam exclaims about how late he is for the next five minutes as he rushes around the house. You almost want to giggle, but it might make Liam even more upset.

By the time you sit back down on the couch after pouring your tea into a mug you could barely reach, Liam is fully dressed in a very nice polo shirt and cardigan combo. He’s still talking about how he’s late when he walks over to you and presses a clumsy kiss to your unsuspecting cheek and grabs his scarf and coat and rushes out the door.

The reality of the situation crashes down on you hard. Because as natural as that kiss felt, it wasn’t a normal occurrence. You weren’t dating Liam and living in his apartment struggling with him to pay rent. No matter how domestic the whole morning seemed. You’re still lying to Liam, taking advantage of how nice and selfless he is. You’re terrible, you don’t deserve a place to live. You certainly don’t deserve Liam. You don’t even deserve this tea.

Instead of slamming the tea on the ground for intensity purposes, you place it neatly on the table in front of you. You search for the remote so you can watch something on TV and distract yourself from how horrible you are.

The remote is not on the table, where it usually is. You scan the ground, but this house is spotless. The only things on the couch besides you are two pillows and a small home-knitted afghan. You ponder on the many afghans Liam has throughout the house for a moment. Who knitted them? Was it Liam’s mother? Grandmother? Was it Liam himself?

You shake your head and get up from the couch to pull the cushions off. You let out a triumphant “a HA!” upon finding the remote wedged way in the back. You find that X Factor is running a marathon on the current season leading up to the finale tonight and you sigh in relief. Nothing like reality TV to get your mind off how pathetic you are.

You’re on the edge of your seat when you hear Liam’s car pull up to the house. There are two contestants on stage and they’ve each got their heads down. Your favorite since the beginning is nervously biting at his fingernails. The host is dramatically pausing and you don’t think you’ve ever been so anxious in your life.

You hear, simultaneously, the door opening and the host saying your favorite has won. You jump up out of your seat and cheer loudly, turning to yell at Liam.

But Liam is not alone, and he looks…mad? You don’t think you’ve ever seen Liam express an angry emotion. What’s more shocking is that behind Liam stand two people you know entirely too well.

Your arms are suddenly full of blond Irish sunshine as Niall hugs you close to him, hiding his face in your neck. You barely hug back, instead staring hopelessly at Liam, who looks pretty hot when he’s angry, and Zayn, who doesn’t.

When Niall pulls away he punches your arm, “You dick! What the hell was that? Running away for days! We were so worried!”

“Were you?” You ask, still holding eye contact with Liam.

“Of course we were, you ass,” Zayn speaks up, moving to pull Louis into a much shorter hug.

“Okay, I’ve brought you to him,” Liam says, “Now does anyone want to explain to me what’s going on?”

Louis sighs, “I’m really sorry, Liam,”

“Just get on with the story,”

“Well, I wasn’t lying all that much. My girlfriend broke up with me and kicked me out, but I’m not homeless. I’ve been living on their couch for two years,” Louis indicates Zayn and Niall, who nod, “They suggested I go to therapy and I got pissed and ran out in the middle of winter in practically no clothes and ended up passed out and then you found me.”

Liam nods solemnly, no longer looking mad. He just looked, like nothing. He looked kind of lost, “I guess it’s best you go now.”

“I really am sorry,” You insist. Liam just nods.

Feeling awkward, Niall grabs your arm and ushers you towards the door. Outside you see Zayn's car behind Liam’s in the road. You get in the back and sit behind the Niall as Zayn starts the car.

“So, how did you guys find me?”

Niall launches into a story about how you left your phone at home and they heard it ringing yesterday. They found it in the couch and you’d never changed your password from your ex’s name and they got in and found a text from “Curly Haired Booty Call” saying "hiii saw you in town today with a cuuute boy hope its not serious lol we should get together again (;". Niall had called the number and asked Harry about the “cuuute boy” and realized that he knew who Harry had been describing. Liam was one of Niall's biggest supporters, often just threw hundred dollar bills into Niall's guitar case.

Liam and Niall had become friends at one point and Niall asked where Liam worked. Upon finding out it was in therapy, Niall suggested that he knew someone who might need it. Liam gave him a business card and Niall went home to talk to Louis about it.

“So you’re telling me,” You started, “That I ran from the therapy you wanted to give me, right back into its arms?” Niall just giggled in response.

Today, while Louis was watching X Factor all day, Niall and Zayn took a trip down to Liam’s office. They explained as much as they could to Liam before he agreed to let Zayn follow him home so they could see if they had the same Louis.

“And now we’re here,” Niall finished.

“And now we’re home,” Zayn added, pulling up to the house that you used to call home. You exit the car and walk inside behind the two men. You flop down onto your couch and miss how comfy Liam’s bed was.

“It’s good to have you back,” Zayn says, leaving down to hug you.

“Yeah,” You respond, turning on the TV.

You just kind of stay on one channel for the few days. You beat your record for longest without going to the bathroom. You’re close to beating your longest without food record when you hear the telltale signs of Zayn and Niall fighting over you again.

“We’re right back where we started!”

“We can’t chase him out again, Zayn!”

“We should have just left him at Liam’s.”

“You don’t mean that,”

“I don’t, I just, I really want to have our house to ourselves again. It’s been so long, we only had it for like a year after we got married before Lou moved in.”

“What do you suppose we do? Get him together with Liam?”

“That’s actually a great idea,”

“Oh yeah, and how exactly are we going to do that?”

“Send him to therapy!”

“…We shouldn’t bother Liam, he’s a great guy.”

“And Louis’ not?”

“Not…right now…”

“Look, Liam really liked him. Did you see how crushed he was when he realized the truth? Louis obviously charmed him, and Louis likes him too. Just look at him out there, he hasn’t even gone to the bathroom today! He’s killing himself! Even if he doesn’t get Liam, he still needs the therapy.”

“…Do you think he'll put up a fight?”

“Do you think he has any fight left in him?”

You decide that you’ve had enough and get on your sore legs to walk over to their open bedroom door. You poke your head in and quiet inform Zayn and Niall that you can always hear them fighting. Niall blushes but Zayn stands up and walks over to you, taking your shoulders in his hands.

“You need help, Louis,” He stares into your eyes, he looks really upset, “I’m calling Liam tomorrow to get an appointment as soon as we can,”

You try to shrug Zayn's hands off you but he’s stronger than you are, “Look, I don’t mind therapy. I’ll go, just not to Liam.”

“If you go to Liam we can kill two birds with one stone,”

“I don’t want to cause Liam any more discomfort.”

Zayn rolls his eyes and lets go of you. He grabs his phone and picks up Liam’s card from his and Niall's dresser, dialing the number on it. You sigh and decide you don’t want to hear Zayn talk to Liam. You walk out of their room and grab your jacket and a pair of shoes and walk out of the house.

You clean your glasses off as you walk for a bit before you hear hurried steps approaching you. You return your glasses to their rightful place atop your nose and turn to see Niall. His face is red and his right hand is clenched around his guitar case.

“You don’t have to babysit me, Niall.” You insist, continuing to walk but slowing to allow Niall to catch up.

"I kind of do,” Niall says, taking deep breaths, “The last time you left the house you ran away, and I don't want to lose you again."

"Like I was some big loss,” You scoff, throwing on your best Irish accent, which isn’t very good, “’Oh no the thing taking up our couch and eating our food and raising our cable bill is gone, how terrible!’"

Niall stops, reaching out to grab your arm and stop you as well. He glares at you, and it almost scares you. You wonder if he’s taking glaring lessons from Zayn.

“Louis, you're my best friend. Don't you _ever_ think that I don't want you around."

You don’t know what to say. But Niall does. He pulls you into a tight hug and the guitar is wedged between you uncomfortably but neither of you care. You actually take the time to hug Niall back and you probably stand there for a while, swaying slightly.

When you let go you feel oddly refreshed and maybe a hug was just what you needed.

"Now,” Niall says, “How about we go sing somewhere and you can start paying off your cable bills." He shoots you a wink and you realize that you’ve been walking to the place where Liam had brought you a few days ago to go shopping. You think about the clothes you left in Liam’s empty bedroom, soon to be meant for you. You want to leave but Niall gets his guitar out and starts playing the music to your favorite song.

You push back the memory of Liam and instead start singing out the words you know so well. You get lost in the tracklist Niall has composed of all the songs you love and barely realize the crowd forming around you two. Sometimes Niall chimes in with harmonies and it makes you feel more complete than you’ve felt since you left Liam.

Niall stops playing and shakes his hand, “Let’s take a quick break, eh?”

You nod and scan the already thinning crowd. In the very front is Harry smiling widely. He grabs your hand and pulls you off to the side, “Can I talk to you?”

“Um, I think you’re great,” You start rejecting Harry right away because Harry is nice enough but you can’t stop thinking about Liam and you really would really feel bad trying to date right now, “But I’m not really looking for anybody tonight,”

Harry is shaking his head though, “No, I wanted to say, my dad is the owner of a minor record company. I was wondering if you ever considered a career in music?”

You honestly don’t know what to think, “I don’t think so, my voice isn’t all that good, and…” You trail off, trying to think up other excuses.

“Do you really believe that?” Harry asks, staring at you with disbelief, “What our company looks for his that unique sound you don’t hear every day, and I can tell you, you’ve certainly got it.”

You’re again dumbfounded by the compliment and look around for something else to say. You point towards the store where you saw Harry folding sweaters before, “I thought you worked in that store.”

Harry chuckles, “I work there in my spare time, mostly under cover,” He clasps his hands and points his index fingers and thumbs into a gun and strikes a Bond pose, “I’m always looking for street performers to sign,”

“Well, why haven’t you talked to Niall? He’s much better than me,” You point back to where Niall is lazily tuning his already in tune guitar.

“Oh trust me, I have,” Harry insists, staring at Niall who is now tapping a rhythm into the wooden frame of his guitar, “He’s, like, obsessed with remaining amateur. Or he’s waiting for a bigger company to snatch him up.”

You take a moment to really take in your current situation. The curly haired man in front of you with a half unbuttoned shirt and an American Flag bandanna tied around his head wants to sign you to a record company. You can make out little doodle tattoos on his arms where his sleeves are pushed up and birds by his collar bones. You let out a little laugh and Harry laughs with you.

“I guess I’ll think about it,”

“Great!” Harry says, reaching back into his very tight pants and pulling out a card, “Even if you don’t want to sign, feel free to call. We can hang out sometime, as friends of course,” He winks at you and swaggers off to his store. You shake your head as you pocket the card and walk back to Niall.

You start to talk but Niall begins playing another song and you can’t help but sing to this one either. Soon you’re halfway through another setlist entirely composed of your favorite songs and you’re not sure how Niall even knows them all on guitar, you guess he’s a better friend than you thought. You open your eyes to look through the new crowd that gathered in front of you. You think maybe you spot lush lips and light brown hair and bushy expressive eyebrows but you think you might also be seeing things.

Niall stops and tells the crowd that you guys are done for the day. A quiet groan sounds but the crowd disperses none the less. Niall leans down to sort through the money thrown haphazardly into his guitar case.

“So…why didn’t you tell me I slept with a big shot record company employee?”

Niall sighs, he knows where this is going, “It didn’t seem to matter at the time.”

You cut to the chase hastily, “Why don’t you take Harry’s offer to sign you?”

The blond sets down the money and turns to look at you, “I don’t want to go and work for a company who’s just going to tell me what I can and cannot do or sing or look like,”

“Oh, come on,” You gesture towards the store where Harry is working, “With Harry as a worker they must be laid back,”

“It’s just, not for me, Lou.” He turns back to the money, but both of you know you’re not going down without a fight.

“Why not?” You nudge his shoulder with yours, “Ever since we were teenagers you've wanted to be a musician.”

“Yeah, until I found out what the music business does to its artists.”

You can tell he’s getting frustrated, and decide it’s time to take a nicer approach, “Niall, please, just for me, will you please just check Harry's business out? You really deserve it.”

“Fine,” Niall groans and pockets the money, “I'll do it, but, you have to do it too.”

You scoff, “Don't be silly, Niall. This is your dream, not mine.”

“You used to want to sing too. Remember Grease?”

You laugh, remembering having your hair styled up for the first time and begging the costume department to let you keep the leather jacket, “We were unstoppable. Danny Zuko and Teen Angel.”

Niall awkwardly plucks a few strings that sound vaguely like Beauty School Dropout, “How about we go together, as a duo?”

You consider it. Mostly the reason why you never seriously considered music was because if you did get famous you’d have to leave everyone and everything behind. You’d be so alone. But this way, you’d always have at least one person by your side.

“You know, I think I like that better than both of us being solo.” You grin at Niall and he grins right back.

“I'll call Harry tomorrow,” Niall says, shutting his guitar into the case and standing up from the curb. You stand up with him and you both start walking home. You smile at the thought of singing with Niall all the time, touring with him, having a bunch of fans.

“I actually really hope this works out,” You say, and it feels really good to be optimistic for the first time in a while. You get back home around dark and Zayn's already gone to bed.

Zayn wakes you up at noon and it is way too early to be doing anything.

"Get up, I'm taking you to Liam,"

The mention makes you jolt up and glare at Zayn, "Why?"

"Therapy," He pulls your blanket off you and grimaced and turns away when he's face to face with your naked body, "Put some clothes on, we're going to need a new couch once you get yourself sorted out,"

"I don't _wanna_ ," You whine shamelessly, flopping back down onto the couch.

Zayn groans, "Liam took the time to make you an appointment right away and for very cheap even though he's an expensive and busy therapist, the least you could do after lying to him so much is not waste his time."

Zayn always knew how to make you feel guilty as hell. Niall always sucked at tough love. You suppose it makes them a perfect match and all that gooey nonsense.

Ugh, speaking of gooey nonsense, Niall comes sleepily clunking down the hallway. He smiles softly at Zayn and puts a hand on his chest. Zayn makes mooneyes back at Niall, doing his little grin where he presses his tongue against the back of his teeth. Niall walks into the kitchen to put himself a mug of coffee before sliding up behind Zayn and snuggling into his left shoulder, a hand wrapped tightly around his right hip. He sips his coffee from there, humming contently

"Okay, fine," You shoot up from three couch, startling three two out of their position, "I'll go to therapy, god, just stop being so...cute!"

Niall, still not awake, smiles drowsily at you. He presses a kiss to Zayn's cheek and wishes him luck before taking his coffee back to their bedroom. You make sure to scrunch your nose in disgust as Zayn watches him go.

You grab your glasses so you're able to see as you put on sweatpants and the first cleanish shirt you can find. You pull on a jean jacket and spend entirely not enough time arranging a beanie on your head before Zayn is yanking you out of the house.

The ride to Liam's office is quiet. Zayn only speaks up just before you exit the car to go in.

"Look Lou, I love you." You refrain yourself from mentioning how that rhymes, "I'm really sorry about everything that has happened to you these past years, you didn't deserve any of it. And I'm sorry for making you feel unwelcome in our house. It's just that, I really want you to get better and be the confident, self-sufficient guy I knew growing up. And you, living on our couch, pretending to be homeless, that's not him."

You feel hot tears gathering in your eyes. You wipe them away quickly and turn to smile at Zayn. You've known him forever, he's always been your best friend. Even when Niall came along in high school and stole him from you, then proceeded to win your heart no matter how much you tried to hate him.

"I love you too, Zayn." You reply simply before getting out of his car and walking up to the building.

When you enter, Liam is standing out in the lobby waiting. His face lights up when he sees you, just like it always does. You can't believe he's still happy to see you.

"Louis, great, come on," He waves his arm and starts walking towards a door that obviously leads to his office. Inside there is one big cushy chair and two loveseats. You take a seat on one of the small couches and Liam starts rambling.

"We've only got about an hour, since I couldn't schedule you in for an actual appointment until next week. This is my lunch hour, so I'm going to eat, if you don't mind," He holds up a sandwich and you shrug in response.

"You didn't have to do this, Liam."

"I wanted to," He says around a mouth full of sandwich, "I want to hear your whole story.”

“I wasn’t lying all that much,” You insist.

Liam stares you down, “Come on,”

You can feel Liam’s eyes piercing into you and before you know it, words are coming out of your mouth, “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Start where you think is important,”

“I guess…when I met my ex-girlfriend?” You ask, looking at Liam for confirmation. He just raises his bushy eyebrows and bites into his sandwich, so you launch into the story. Liam sits quietly while you sift through the memories of the five years you shared with her, then the years you lived on a couch. Finally, you get to meeting Liam. “Then we met, and I guess you know the rest.”

“We’ve got a few more minutes,” Liam says, bunching up a napkin and throwing it towards his trash can, it’s a perfect shot, “What have you been up to since you left my house?”

“Nothing really, I’m back on Zayn and Niall's couch,” You contemplate telling Liam about Harry, “There, uh, something might be happening…”

“Are you going to tell me?”

You don’t think you can keep anything from Liam, just slightly lying to him for a few days was hard, “Well, that curly haired guy we saw in the store?” Liam nods in understanding, “He’s a part of a small record company and he might sign Niall and me as a duo.”

“What?!” Liam gets up and sits on the couch next to Louis, “That’s great!”

Liam hesitates for a moment before pulling you into a hug. You can’t help but return it, because Liam is warm and he smells nice and familiar even though you’ve honestly only known him for barely a week. You never want to be not hugging Liam.

But a small ringing shocks both of you out of the hug. Liam reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone, “Lunch break is over,”

You nod, “Okay, I’ll go,”

Liam grabs your hand and stops you from getting up, “Will I see you again?”

You frown, “I think I’ve hurt you enough,”

“What makes you think you’re going to hurt me more?”

“Look,” Liam drops your hand and you turn to him, “I’m no good. I’m pathetic and my life has been off track for a long time. I need to get myself together and you don’t need me bringing you down.”

“But,”

“Liam, no,” You shake your head and turn away from Liam’s frowning face, but you can still imagine it. Bottom lip stuck out in a pout and a little wrinkle between his eyebrows. You open the door and don’t look back as you leave the office. You get into Zayn's car quietly and don’t speak to him, despite his baiting questions.

When you get home, Niall has dinner cooking. He informs you and Zayn that he set up for the two of you to check out Harry’s company. The three of you eat dinner cheerfully, you think you’ll be getting your life back on track soon.

You admit that it does feel pretty nice.

**Author's Note:**

> Also, if you follow my other fics, I think I might just abandon It Gets Better, or put it on hiatus. I was not having fun writing it and I have too much school to focus on to keep updating it like I was. Sorry if you liked it, but I did not.
> 
> A sequel will exist if I ever get around to it, or if I have enough motivation.


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